Bitcoin price plunges – today’s value in GBP and USD
Bitcoin’s value soared to incredible highs in December but has since been slumping By Gerard du Cann 20th November 2018, 12:08 pm Updated: 20th November 2018, 12:08 pm BITCOIN is the world’s leading cryptocurrency, with its performance shaking up the financial markets.
Its meteoric rise in value last year has been followed by an equally dramatic plunge in 2018 – but what is it worth today? AP:Associated Press A new report warns central banks should carefully weigh the risks before introducing virtual currencies using the technology that enables bitcoin What is Bitcoin worth today?
At 11.45am on November 20, 2018, one bitcoin was trading for around 3404.12 Pound sterling and 4,376.15 USD.
The coin had lost more than a fifth of its value since October, and was a shade of the £14,500 value at its height in December 2017.
It was its lowest point since October 2017.
The heavy losses are believed to have occurred as a result of the “hard fork” of bitcoin cash that took place on Thursday, where the cryptocurrency effectively split in two to create a brand new cryptocurrency.
The dip may also have its roots in an incident in which thieves are believed to have swiped £28m of digital currency including Pundi X, Aston and NPER from Coinrail in June.
Coinrail said 30 per cent of its coins had been stolen, with 70 percent of its coins moved to a more secure “cold wallet”, which can transfer coins into a platform that is not connected to the internet.
They did not reveal the value of the theft, but Yonhap News cited industry sources who claimed that hackers stole 40billion won – £27.7million – worth of currency.
The announcement sent Bitcoin plummeting from more than $7,500 (£5,586) to $6,780 (£5,050) in the space of a weekend – while other digital currencies also recorded large losses. What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown computer whizz using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto .
Individual Bitcoins are created by computer code.
The total value of all Bitcoin in existence is now more than £112billion.
Transactions are made without middlemen, so there are no transaction fees and no need to give your real name.
More businesses are beginning to accept them and in some parts of the world, you can even buy pizza with Bitcoins.
You can set up a virtual wallet website like Blockchain to store, keep track and spend your digital money.
You are also able to purchase Bitcoin through an online exchange or Bitcoin ATM.
To find merchants that accept Bitcoin in the UK click here .
Bitcoins aren’t printed, like pounds, dollars or euros – they’re produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers all around the world.
It’s the first example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency. LATEST IN BITCOIN NEWS Bitcoin falls below $5,000 for the first time in a year as turmoil continues TWITCOIN Warning over Initiative Q investment scheme currently flooding social media CRYPTO CON DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather promoted multi-million dollar cryptocurrency scam BIT-OF-DIP Bitcoin price plunges – today’s value in GBP and USD GEEK’S GOLD What exactly is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and how much is it worth today? How do Bitcoins work?
The value of Bitcoin, like all currencies, is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.
To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called “mining” must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoin is processed.
In addition, the miner is rewarded with new Bitcoin.
To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of new Bitcoins are produced each day.
There are currently about 16 million in existence.
The Bitcoin protocol – the rules that make Bitcoin work – say that only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be created by miners.
But these coins can be divided into smaller parts with the smallest divisible amount one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin.
This is called a “Satoshi”, after the founder.
To receive a Bitcoin, a user must have a Bitcoin address – a string of 27-34 letters and numbers – which acts as a kind of virtual postbox.
Since there is no register of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.
These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets, which are used to manage savings.
Man named Satoshi Nakamoto denies he is the creator of Bitcoin.
